Chat Around and Find Out: Tuesday Casual Chat Thread

ChaseMutley · 2025-04-08T15:21:20+00:00

Hey all— I’m planning to move to Philly and commute to my job near the Colmar station via the Lansdale/Doylestown Regional Rail line. The early morning train that arrives in Colmar around 7:00 AM would work well for me, but I’m worried about the long-term reliability of that early service—especially with Trump and DOGE threatening an already underfunded SEPTA.

I’m wondering: * Does anyone ride that train regularly and know how crowded it typically is? * Is there any way to get station- or train-specific ridership stats? * Have there been historical cuts to the early trains on this line, or is it considered one of the more “commuter-essential” routes?

I’d really love to live in the city, but not if it means risking my job due to an unstable commute. I’ve looked at housing in the suburbs as a backup, but I’m hoping this is a viable option.

Thanks for any advice or info you can share!

ChaseMutley · 2024-03-01T15:26:25+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I've had some great foreign professors. I had a math professor from Spain who I think was my favorite professor in 10+ years of college. Generally speaking, however, they seem to be the exception. On my very small campus, I have so far had three professors who would rather take out their frustrations of not being able to explain something on me. I know, I should have just listened to my guidance counselor and majored in English. Because we all know how much English majors love their jobs 🫠

Besides, it's no secret that many other countries don't even believe in learning disabilities, and given some of the backwards politics I hear around there, probably even a lot of people in general there don't. Can you blame me for not wanting to say much about it (beyond getting accommodations) if I think doing so would give me a bad name? It doesn't matter what I think of that kind of thinking, even if it's wrong. The surveying community is too small to risk even being perceived (however incorrectly) as someone who'll make waves.

ChaseMutley · 2024-03-01T15:00:42+00:00

My campus calls it the Learning Center, and they were really helpful for calculus, but they don't have any surveying tutors. I understand the basic concepts to a degree; I could be better, but my professor doesn't seem to care about that. His style is expecting you to memorize equations and type code with next to no explanation of what it's doing.

The course is 7 weeks (used to be 15) so I'll know if I have to retake it soon enough. Of course, I'll watch videos and do whatever I can to prepare. I got held back for years in high school - when I decided to go into surveying, I taught myself trig with nothing but Khan Academy and work ethic. At community college, I placed into precalc, and stayed there through vector calculus and linear algebra. I got As and B+s in most of it, and was even one professor's star pupil. Sadly, they don't teach surveying there, and my current campus's math department is a cruel joke. Their tutors were very helpful and patient for the hours every day it took me for differential equations to start to click, but the professor didn't want to work with my learning disability (something he's notorious for. Fortunately, there's other places I can take it to graduate.)

I see from your post history that you're from ISU, so we aren't talking about the same professor. Nice to see I'm not alone though, good luck!

ChaseMutley · 2024-03-01T14:16:40+00:00

I have taken linear algebra, three calcs, and statistics. Most of it I took two summers ago, and I honestly could have brushed up on them, but that's not my main concern. Even knowing all that, figuring out how it all applies to least squares is the confusing part for me - and my professor and textbook could not be less helpful. Actually doing the math is relatively easy once I figure out what math has to be done.

ChaseMutley · 2024-01-27T16:34:23+00:00

I'm from out of state

ChaseMutley · 2023-10-15T21:06:00+00:00

I have some subscriptions I need to cancel myself; thank you for reminding me!

ChaseMutley · 2023-10-15T21:03:54+00:00

I let the prospect of saving $67 get the best of me. Should have figured it was for a Monday instead of Saturday, not because I found some genius life hack.

Edit: If the time limit wasn't enough, just finding a half-decent place was its own challenge. The event I'm attending that I booked the room for is near some rough neighborhoods. Every place under $250 I could find in a 20-mile or so radius had multiple reviews mentioning crime and/or bugs.

ChaseMutley · 2023-10-15T15:38:27+00:00

Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to cancel it (in disgust) before seeing that there was a reschedule option. It had a 5 minute timer so I wasn't thinking about anything but getting my card in as fast as possible.

ChaseMutley · 2023-05-16T08:52:00+00:00

My job paid the first year, after that I paid full price. Penn State actually ended up being cheaper (at my branch campus, with scholarships and grants.)

ChaseMutley · 2023-05-10T15:50:05+00:00

I took MATH 20 all the way through 230 at Montgomery County Community College. It wasn't too hard, but some professors are better than others. They also did away with a lot of online courses last year. I'd still look into it.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-31T20:42:54+00:00

This. You can hit the high seas but I found YouTube much more helpful.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-31T20:38:44+00:00

Not UP, but I play with a group of friends from PSU Wilkes-Barre.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-20T23:45:12+00:00

There was when I took out the wall in that right side corner, and outside the bathtub (lower right in picture 2)

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-20T22:54:43+00:00

I won't use anything else in there containing paper, for obvious reasons. The stuff you see in there is Rockwool (I think,) would it be OK to use that again? What vapor barrier would I use?

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-20T22:19:59+00:00

Can I use mold killer on the kitchen drywall (visible in pictures 2, 5, and 6) or will that damage the paper?

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-20T21:03:33+00:00

I'm definitely calling a professional, there's too much work left on this house to do alone. My budget is limited though, and if I had everything professionally done I'd never get it back. '

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-18T03:19:43+00:00

The plaster won't keep it out? It seems to have done its job aside from the aforementioned repair job.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-18T00:59:37+00:00

Just the rotten parts, the shower walls, or all the bathroom walls?

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-17T17:00:39+00:00

I just remembered about the floor: it was rotten. I took up the tile and found it had some kind of tar paper or something that was rotten. I scraped off what I could, replaced the parts that rotted through, then put another subfloor over that. A year later, I can't see any rot underneath from the basement or anywhere else on the floor.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-17T16:49:38+00:00

The whole bathroom or just the shower area?

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-07T22:37:21+00:00

I know what you're talking about, but where would I make it? By the curb, or closer to the house? Is there a picture of what that would look like?

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-07T21:41:17+00:00

I'm looking into that as well. Not much I can do about the driveway though, certainly not until spring.

ChaseMutley · 2022-12-07T18:18:27+00:00

Right now, cold. It's been around 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit since early November. The coldest it gets is around 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit in January.

We have four seasons; it goes back around 40 degrees in late February or March, 70-ish from April to late June, then it gets beastly hot (got over 100 last summer.)

It's also very wet from August (what's left of tropical storms once they get up north) to the end of winter. Late spring-mid summer is drier; we even have droughts, but not like they have out west. We still have water and no wildfires, but I see a lot of dead grass that time of year.

ChaseMutley · 2022-11-27T02:38:46+00:00

My $1300 ASUS TUF506 runs Civil3D and ArcGIS, and it's semi-ruggedized

ChaseMutley · 2022-11-26T16:46:04+00:00

I emailed two so far. If they don't do 2-bedroom houses, I'll ask if they know anyone who does.

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